Overpriced Electricity and Water…It’s More Fun in the Philippines

Last October 11, 2014, my father, Tony Galang, one of the (more or less) influential society leaders in Maragondon, Cavite and acting vice president of Movement to Save Maragondon River (MSMR), was a guest at “Politics Today”, a show hosted by Herman Tiu Laurel. In this episode, my father (one of the water advocates) along with other guests Butch Junia and RJ Javellana, talk about how the oligarchs in collaboration with the government are trying to bleed the middle class and masses dry with overpriced electricity and water.

In a nutshell, this episode power and water companies owned by the oligarchs pass on to the consumers the costs of running their businesses, and the regulatory government bodies like the ERC do nothing about it.

If you are planning to set up a small- to medium-sized business in the Philippines, you got to think more than twice about it. It doesn’t seem very profitable to do business here. No wonder this is another reason (other than the 60/40 provision) why big international firms won’t invest in the poor country where I was fortunately (or unfortunately) born.

On a related note, my father’s fighting against the big oligarchs in their plans to build a dam along the Maragondon River. The potential for destruction to nature, agriculture, and society that is tied up with this controversial dam project is alarming. The issue is very close to my family’s heart, given that my father lives literally next to the river bank.

I remember a time when as I child, I was swimming in the Maragondon River. There is now the potential that my son and his future children will have to pay for the use the water from the river. It’s ironic when you think that the family home is right next to the river.